


We Started With One

by ohjustpeachy



Series: Things They Say When... [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjustpeachy/pseuds/ohjustpeachy
Summary: Steve and Tony are retired, volunteering at an animal shelter and adoping *a lot* of pets.





	We Started With One

Retirement came to them naturally. Tony and Steve could really only keep up the superhero lifestyle for so long, and they had successors now, a brand new team they’d trained themselves. They were going to be outshined before long, and while Steve would never admit to it, Tony for one wanted to go out while he was still ahead, on his own terms. 

So they buy a house upstate, not far from the compound, because they were retiring from the action, not from the team. It was their family, at this point, their tether to everything they built and loved over the years. They weren’t letting go of that part, and they’d never want to. The house is perfect for the two of them, bright and open, plenty of room for Tony to tinker and Steve to paint. Plenty of room for them to just  _ be _ . 

After a month of long, lazy mornings in bed and more down time than either of them had ever known, Steve starts volunteering at an animal shelter. It only takes two days for him to come home with a kitten, one of its ears a little torn, nervous and rough around the edges, but she’d taken to Steve like no one at the shelter had seen before, and so Steve thought they could foster her, get her used to being around people again. 

Tony eyes the cat, skeptical. Cats had never liked him, and he couldn’t say he was much of a fan of them either, but even he had to admit that it looked cute, curled up on Steve’s chest like that. 

“She’s stealing my spot, but I guess that’s okay… for now,” he says with a dubious look, like he’s doing the cat a great favor. 

“You won’t be replaced, don’t worry, you’re still my favorite inside cat,” Steve says, kissing the top of Tony’s head. If he stretches and preens at the attention, a little catlike, Steve pretends not to notice. 

They name the kitten Stella, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that they’re doing more than fostering her.

Another month goes by, and Steve encourages Tony to join him at the shelter one afternoon. “You’ll love it, Tony, just come one time, see how it goes.” Steve gives his best puppy dog eyes and kisses Tony’s lips softly as he asks. Tony tags along that very afternoon. 

He doesn’t  _ mean _ to fall in love with one of the older dogs, but he was looking at Tony so _ sadly _ and the sign on his cage said he wanted a forever home for his last few years, and really, you had to be heartless to just  _ leave _ him there. Campbell is a mutt, he walks a little slowly, and he was being treated for heartworm. Tony feels an immediate kinship with him, and promises Steve up and down, cross his arc reactor and hope to die, that if they bring him home, they were  _ really _ just fostering this one. 

They adopt him after a week. They have the room, after all.

Tony and Campbell are just about inseparable, spending long afternoons on the couch, or at Tony’s computer, Campbell watching and following adoringly, Tony spoiling him with toys and food from the table and endless belly rubs. Steve’s okay with sharing his husband, loves seeing him so happy and relaxed like this. Even Stella comes around to her new older sibling. 

They’re a family of four for a while, a mishmash of slightly broken pieces making a whole. It kind of...spirals from there, though. Steve brings home two more cats, a brother and sister pair.  _ They couldn’t be separated, Tony _ . They’re on a  _ Friends _ kick at the time, so they call them Monica and Ross, and they make themselves right at home with Campbell and Stella. 

After that it’s a turtle, of all things.  _ A seven year old couldn’t take care of it _ ,  _ it won’t be much work. _ They name him Herman, and he really doesn’t require much. Tony visits the shelter every now and then, and one afternoon he brings home a one-year-old tri-pawed golden retriever.  _ No one wanted him, Steve, can you imagine? He’s perfect!  _ He immediately starts brainstorming for a prosthetic leg for their newest family member, Ralphie. 

When Steve comes home with a senior cat he wants to call Zelda, Tony holds up a hand. 

“We started with one, now we have seven. You have  _ no chill, _ ” Tony says, though he’s already scratching between Zelda’s ears and petting her tentatively. He’s come around to cats in recent months. 

Steve looks at him, incredulous. “ _ You _ brought home the dogs!” 

“Well, that’s only two of the seven, so,” Tony points out. 

“Well, Zelda can be the last, but we can’t take her back. Look, she loves you already!” Steve isn’t wrong. She’s curled herself up on Tony’s lap, enjoying the attention. 

“Campbell’s going to be jealous, but fine, she can stay,” Tony says, shifting over on the couch to make room for Steve. He lifts his hand from Zelda’s head to stroke through Steve’s hair, and they laugh when the cat bats at his hand, indignant at being ignored. 

\-- 

“So, what? You retire for a few months and replace us with new collection of strays?” Natahsa asks with a smirk, the first time she visits. 

They splutter, denial at the ready, but pause to look around. They take in Campbell, sitting dutifully at Tony’s side, the cats lounging around the room, basking in small spots of sun, Herman in his tank. They look at each other and smile, Steve leaning in and pressing a kiss to Tony’s cheek. They  _ had _ managed to assemble a new kind of family, without even realizing it. 

“Saps,” Nat says, picking Stella up and cooing at her in a very un-Natasha moment of sweetness. “Told you you’d miss us,” she says. 

They can’t exactly argue. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi! I'm omg-just-peachy on Tumblr!


End file.
